Many digital cameras, including digital cameras incorporated into cell phones, now provide burst image capturing capabilities. In a burst image capturing mode, a digital camera typically captures many images in rapid succession. The images captured in a burst mode make up a burst of images or an image stack, where each individual image within the burst of images or the image stack may be referred to as a burst image. In capturing a burst of images, some parameter may be varied across each of the burst images.
A common example is exposure bracketing. Many cameras allow a photographer to take a set of photos (e.g., two or more) in fast succession. The first burst image may be exposed as metered by the camera. The second image may be over-exposed by some pre-determined amount, possibly specified by the photographer, and the third burst image may be under-exposed by the same amount. Many photographers also use exposure bracketing as a means for checking a digital camera's metering. The photographer may take three burst images with the intent of keeping only one, and choose the most desirable burst image of the burst and discard the other two.
Exposure bracketed bursts may also form the basis for High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, a technique where differently exposed images are combined into a single image that is well exposed throughout the image. For example, a photographer may use a burst mode on a digital camera to capture three burst images where the first image has the foreground well exposed, the second image has the background well exposed, and the third image has an area between the foreground and background well exposed. In this regard, using HDR imaging portions of the each the images may be combined to create a composite image that is well exposed throughout.
Another parameter than can be varied across a burst of images can be focus. In this regard, a burst of images may be captured where each burst image includes a different area in focus, or each image has a different focal length. These images may also be combined into a composite of the burst images to create an image that is in focus throughout the composite image. Bursts of images with varying focus may also occur when burst images are captured of fast moving action. The photographer may pan the camera to keep the subject in the center of the scene, but auto-focus features may not always follow and maintain focus on the subject.
Further, burst modes on digital cameras may also be utilized in situations where a rapid succession of burst images are captured in an attempt to capture a single burst image that is desirable with respect to the positioning or other attributes of the subjects within the burst images. The classic example is attempting to capture an image of a group of people where everyone is smiling. A burst of images may include a single image within the burst that is desirable in this regard. A photographer may select the desirable burst image and discard the remaining images. Another possibility may be that there is no single image where everyone smiles, though everyone smiles in some image. Then the task may be to select the pieces of each burst image that can be combined into a new synthesized image that is more desirable than any of the input images.
While burst mode photography can be very useful, problems can arise in the selection of desirable burst images. Individual photos in a burst are usually very similar, with some parameters such as focus, exposure, or the state of the targets (e.g., smiling or frowning) varying through each of the burst images. Oftentimes, the photographer must examine the resulting burst of images to select a desirable image. The process of selecting a desirable burst image can be a tedious process. The process can involve flipping back and forth through the burst of images several times to select a desirable image. The process can be increasingly difficult and tedious on a device with a small display screen that is common on many digital cameras, cell phones, and other mobile devices incorporating a digital camera. Photographers often resort to repeatedly zooming, panning, and flipping though the burst images while having to remember desirable and undesirable aspects of the various images. As described above, a photographer may also want to create a composite image incorporating different portions from different burst images. Identifying the desired burst images and the desired portions of the images may also involve tediously zooming, panning, and flipping though the burst images.
Thus, there is a need for an image display interface that allows for an improved ability to view and select pieces of burst images. Additionally, there is a need for an image display interface that allows for an improved ability to view burst images on a small display.